Where it all began
by Joey Potter
Summary: "That's where all of this starts - with my becoming a werewolf. None of this could have happened if I hadn't been bitten... if I hadn't been so foolhardy..." Short story about what really happened that night so long ago...


Disclaimer: Anything you recognise doesn't belong to me.  
  
A/N: This was just nagging to be written - I mean, I've read a lot of different opinions about how it was the night Remus was bitten, so... this is my version.  
  
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN  
  
"Mum, can I have Courtney sleep over here tonight?" 13-year-old Phoebe Lupin asked her mother. She had just gotten an owl from her best friend, asking if she could come and sleep at Phoebe's house the next day.  
  
"If it's okay with your father, my dear", answered Gwen, so Phoebe asked her father, who said yes.  
  
So, the next day at noon, Courtney Willocks appeared in the Lupins' fireplace. Phoebe greeted her friend with a hug.  
  
"I have something to tell you", Courtney whispered in Phoebe's ear, and the two girls giggled and went off to Phoebe's room.  
  
"And then... then he kissed me!" Courtney told Phoebe, and they both screamed.  
  
"I can't believe it!" Phoebe shrieked. "Did he actually kiss you?" Courtney nodded.  
  
"Yes, he did! And I was totally 'wow', but he was just so sweet and..." the girls went on talking, not knowing that Phoebe's seven-year-old brother, Remus, was listening at the door. He didn't understand all the two girls were talking about - what was a 'French kiss'? - but it was exciting anyway. He listened to everything Phoebe and Courtney were talking about, until he heard his mum walking up the stairs.  
  
"Remus? You better go to bed now", Gwen said, and guided her little boy to his room. She read him a bedtime story and said goodnight, making sure not to close the door entirely when she left.  
  
Remus awoke after three hours of sleep by a voice outside his room.  
  
"They'll never know - we'll be back in an hour". That was Phoebe's voice.  
  
"But isn't it dangerous?" Courtney. What were they doing up so late at night?  
  
"No, it isn't. And it's full moon tonight, so it won't be totally dark". Remus recognised the shadow of his older sister move just outside his door. Where were they going? He knew his mum would never allow them to go outside in the middle of the night. Phoebe's shadow moved away from his door.  
  
"Come on, Courtney! I promise, we'll be back in less than an hour".  
  
"Well... all right then..." Remus heard the door be opened, and he climbed out of bed. If Phoebe was going outside, so was he, he decided as he took on his shoes. The door closed, and Remus went out his room, down the stairs and opened it again. He could only just see the two girls move slowly over to the forest. He closed the door quietly behind him and followed them.  
  
"Wow, Phoebs, you're right. It really is beautiful", Courtney said as she saw how the moon shone on the lake in the middle of the small forest.  
  
"That's what I told you", Phoebe answered.  
  
Remus watched them from behind a bush, when Courtney suddenly turned around.  
  
"What was that?" she exclaimed.  
  
"What was what?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"I heard something".  
  
"Probably just a bird or something", said Phoebe, but if Remus had been able to see her clear, he would have noticed a worried look on her face.  
  
"There it was again", said Courtney, turning around again. "Where does it come from?"  
  
"I don't know", Phoebe answered, turning frantically around to look in the same way as Courtney.  
  
"Maybe we should go back to the house now", Phoebe whispered.  
  
"Good idea", Courtney whispered back, and they started walking back, holding each other's hands, nervously looking around without seeing anything. They had started out slowly, but walked faster and faster, until they were running through the forest, ducking under low boughs and stumbling over roots.  
  
Remus rose from his place behind the bush, ready to follow the girls back to his home, when he heard something. Quickly, he turned around, but didn't see anything. He turned again and saw that the girls were almost out of sight.  
  
Knowing that he wouldn't be able to find the way back to the house by himself, he began running after them as fast as he could. But they could run much faster than he could and the distance between the girls and the boy became bigger.  
  
And then he heard the sound again. And this time, he was able to recognise it. A growl. Like from a dog, but louder, hungrier, wilder. And much more dangerous. He didn't dare turn around to see what it was; he just ran.  
  
The two girls reached the Lupins' backyard, but didn't slow down until they were inside. Then they locked the door and went upstairs, heading for bed.  
  
"God, I was scared out there. It felt exactly like something was following us", said Courtney.  
  
"You're right. But it was probably just our imagination. Nothing is out there", Phoebe said. "Unless... it was a dragon!" she laughed.  
  
"Or an eight-legged creature from Jupiter", Courtney laughed along with her friend as they opened the door to Phoebe's room.  
  
Then a scream broke the silence of the night. 


End file.
